The Code of Cthulhu
by R.I. Wuurdsmythe
Summary: The code means two things. A brilliant scientist deciphers the Necronomicon and discovers the wonders and horrors that lurk within.


The Code of Cthulu

It began on the morning of October 25th, a day so frigid that Armitage Pond in the center of Miskatonic University was frozen over. Some early risers took the opportunity to ice skate across it despite school policy. Others, like myself, sipped our coffee, wiped the sand from our eyes and logged into our workstations to begin the day. Much to everybody's surprise an email written by Dr. Freemont popped up on every screen across campus.

Some said it was a hoax. But the next day classes were canceled. Police cars and federal vehicles became common sights on campus. Half the student body dropped out and returned to their homes. It was a hard time for Miskatonic. After a few weeks, stories came out in the Arkham Crier besmirching Dr Freemont's name. Slowly the men in power did their work. Rumors flew. The press did its work. The truth became muddled. In time the school recovered. But, you must decide for yourself. Here is the message we all saw on that cold day five years ago.

#

First, for all students reading this: You are filled with heady thoughts of accomplishments, degrees and the hope of a bright future to follow, but I am sorry to say, there is no future.

There is an evil that lurks among these brick and stone buildings. It permeates the halls and seeps from the foundations. And when you examine that evil, you will come to realize, as I have, that mankind is little more than an ant crawling across a kitchen floor to be stepped on without thought.

So what advice can i give you? Leave your books. Go to your homes. Hold on to our loved ones and pray.

But, before I explain, you must hear, my confession.

The news today will tell of a blackout along the coast between midnight and 4 am this morning. It was caused by a virus I created and unleashed. The virus, known as Wall Walker, will cause deaths. Subways will have stopped mid-tunnel. Hospital life support systems will have failed. Ambulances will not have been dispatched. Fires will burn unchecked. Damages will be counted in billions of dollars.

I will be considered a criminal. Considering the alternative, it is a small price to pay.

So now you are wondering how it came to all this.

I was offered this position at Miskatonic after my well received thesis on n-dimensional encryption was published by Harvard. One might wonder why I would forgo a promising future to take a position of assistant professor in this strange, forgotten town of Arkham.

It was the opportunity to work with Doctor Helza Albred, one of the preeminent mathematical geniuses of our times. Many of you know him. A man of his talents could have chaired the department of any institution or made himself wealthy in number of corporate ventures. Yet, here he was teaching in the school of Mathematics and Computational Science, one of the smallest departments at Miskatonic University.

I was newly married at the time to Diane Sterling, who many of you also knew. We were happy. We met at Harvard where she studied journalism Her family, once prominent in Boston social circles in the 80 and 90's had fallen low during the following decades as their fortune was stolen by the excesses of Wall Street money mangers who were in fact just conmen.

Thankfully, Di, being too young to remember much of the country club and opera scene did not miss them and she did not mind living as a plebeian while we pursued the intellectual life.

My parents, neither being of much prominence in any circles had died in a car wreck when I was nine. I was raised by my grandparents on Long Island and being withdrawn and wracked with false guilt form my parents death, discovered solace in the pure truths of numbers and algorithms and proofs.

With such an uncertain past behind us, and a vigorous education just completed we looked forward to a peaceful life in sleepy Arkham. Her position as editor for the esteemed Miskatonic Review of Ancient Theology and my teaching position seemed perfect.

My work with Dr. Albred began in earnest. Some of you remember a student named Navin Singh who assisted me. For those of you who were close to Navin, I am sorry to say he is dead.

Dr. Albred had discovered some esoteric book in the Miskatonic archives. Dr Albred, or Helza, whom I now called by his first name, said the ancient tome would revolutionize the fields of mathematics and physics. I never saw the book until much later. God, how I wish I had asked more questions. But I was star-struck.

Helza gave Navin and I a single page and the task of translating the symbols. The glyphs were fantastic and senseless at first. But Helza assured me there was a method behind the madness. It took months to get through that first page.

I dragged myself home very late in those early days. Di was often waiting until two or three a.m. She became irritable. Nightly we argued over nothing. Being married to one's work is not good for newlyweds

Soon it became clear, even from this one page, that the mathematics involved would require a new set of logic. We had to develop our own notation to express the principals.

It became a two stage process. A line of text was scanned. It was analyzed for randomness in the pattern and hundreds of thousands of likely results emerged. These results were fed to a second program which revealed the logic. From that we developed our own notation to unravel the theories and proofs.

Navin and I waxed philosophic over spectacular results. Our names would go down in the annuals of science just based on this one page. I was eager to publish.

My first inkling of the horror that would soon consume me came on a hot August day when, I paid an unscheduled visit to Dr. Albred's office.

The locust had just hatched and the air seemed like gauze that day. Sweat drenched my shirt as I hiked across campus, listening to the droning bugs.

His secretary was not there so I knocked on the oak paneled door.

There was no answer. From behind the door I heard a faint, sloshy voice seemingly chanting. "Yog-Soggoth, Yog Soggoth. F'ai ense. Hena-osian. Yog Soggoth. Opener of the way, we sacrifice in your name." Surely the concert of heat and locust had effected my senses. The words made no sense.

My second thought was that Helza was ill. I pressed my ear against the door, not knowing if I should barge in and make a fool of myself or just continue to knock in hopes he would notice.

There was bumping and rustling of papers and the sounds grew louder. I rushed in, expecting to find him collapsed on the floor

Helza was at his desk, bent over a book with both his arms extended upwards and fingers spread. When he saw me he jerked them down as one does when caught in a shameful act.

"Oh, Daniel. Your surprised me." His voice was croaking and airy. "Perhaps I should introduce you."

"I'm sorry, Helza...not sure what you mean," I said. "Introduce me...?". It was a puzzling exchange.

"This is my colleague, Dr. Jenkins," he said and motioned behind me towards the corner of the room.

Sitting in a leather wingback chair was an overweight, pale skinned, dough faced man. He was completely bald and his nose was so flat and wide that it looked like it was held back by packing tape. His wide mouth and beady eyes made him a perfect caricature of a large fish.

My first thought was one of surprise at not noticing the person before. But that morphed into terrible trepidation when the man stood and walked across the room to shake my hand. He was about 6 inches taller than me. His back was bowed such that when we stood toe to toe, he hovered over my head.

Dr. Jenkins extended his extremely short arm at the end of which were hands as large as a pot roast so that when we shook hands, his completely engulfed mine.

We exchanged formalities.

Helza continued, "Dr. Jenkins was working at CERN, but lucky for us Miskatonic has granted us a good sum and because of their confidence in our research to bring him here to work on our project."

Dr. Jenkins had returned to his seat. "Your reputation precedes you, Dr. Freemont. Would it surprise you to know that I have followed your work very closely these last five years?" he said.

I was flattered to have caught the attention of a man of Dr Jenkins credentials. Though the academic world is very small, I had not heard of him before. At the time that fact did not strike me as odd

Helza leaned back in his chair. "Daniel, perhaps it is time we showed you more. But, I must have your complete trust and faith. What I am about to show you has not been seen my many people. I must warn you. It will shock you. Some

say it is an abomination."

Dr Jenkins stood and shuffled uncomfortably close. It was an bizarre action that only later did I realize the intent. If I had not reacted favorable, he would have killed me. As I would learn, despite his sluggish appearance, Dr. Robert Jenkins was quite capable of sudden and horrid violence.

Helza continued, " Robert and I have hundreds of theories and few proofs. It was your work that has finally brought us some clarity. We are near a breakthrough and could not have done it with out you. So I must assume you are dedicated to see this to the end."

Of course I was.

"This is the Necronomicon. Have a seat and look through it. The page I gave you is but one on many. You know what that means, don't you?" he pushed it across the desk.

What it meant was that there were hundreds, perhaps thousands of scientific discoveries and proofs in this one book.

Dr. Jenkins leaned closer to look as well, his meaty hand gripping the back rest near my neck.

The Necronomicon was perhaps 6 inches thick and at least 2 feet on either side making it a square. The binding had been repaired many times over and the pages were yellow tinged. The worn cover looked to be leather, but felt less durable. I of course recognized some of the symbols and lettering on the cover.

It was filled with drawings of fantastic creatures. One was a human figure with arms that grew from its head where the ears should be. It had antennas with hands. The skin was scaly and the legs double jointed like a dog or cat. Out of the lizard like mouth was a long tongue that wrapped around an immense stone tower. Other pages were even more horrible.

My mind spun with wonder. I had to show Navin.

Dr. Jenkins loomed over me. "This book is part pure mathematics, part fanatical suspicion, as you can see." He pointed a fat finger at a drawing of a tentacled creature. "Dr Albred and I have not been able to even get one page codified. Much of it has been on our own time of course. That's why progress has been so slow. Helza was just showing me some of your results. And you...you have opened new realms."

Helza stared at me stone faced. "The Necronomicon carries what would be called an "evil" reputation. It is said that these are prayers, spells and incantations. You can see by the pictures the nature of what we are dealing with. We are all scientists here and know such magical thinking is nonsense."

Of course, I had no use for senseless superstitions.

Helza flipped towards the middle. "It is these 13 pages here we are going to concentrate on. Since you have completed work on the first page we want you and your assistant to work on the next ones very quickly. For the last page, we will reserve some time in one of the physics lab so Dr Jenkins, you, myself and Navin can be there to share in the final victory."

Dr. Jenkins said, "It is important we do this on May 17th."

May 15th was commencement day. "That's very close to graduation and finals week," I said.

"It's very important we make that date," Helza said.

I did not ask why. I was too enthralled with the idea that our names would be mentioned with the same reverence as Newton and Einstein.

Helza used his influence to expand into grid computing. We built a network using student idle processing and expanded into public networks. Results came quickly now and the implications were staggering.

With our work partly automated, Navin and I enjoyed more time to codify the results into piecemeal theories and proofs. There seemed to always be a deeper meaning that we could never quite grasp. It was like viewing a painting through a glass bottle. We surmised grand theories and hoped a more detailed picture would someday emerge.

My wife and I spent more time together and at first our relationship improved. She had taken to meeting Dr Jenkins for coffee at local bookshop. On May 15th, I awoke and found her on the crying on the couch. She refused to talk about it. May 17th was only two days away and I planned to ask Helza's advice as soon as we had completed our work.

This evening, at 7 p.m., Dr Jenkins, Helza, Navin and I met in in lab number three.

It had recently been emptied of equipment. A large meeting table had been brought in with comfortable chairs. A camera was placed to the side to record the

event. A large monitor was set up at the head of the table and we each had our own notebook computers. The whiteboard had been cleaned. A document scanner was in the middle of the table.

Navin was to control the first stage. Helza placed the final page which Navin and I had not seen before into the scanner.

The image popped up on the large monitor. Among the symbols and glyphs this page portrayed a bulbous, amorphous blob, with wide round eyes emerging from the main mass. There was a star map in which I recognized Taurus with Jupiter and Mars nearly in line just above Alderberan.

"I am starting stage one now. Time 7:23 pm. May 17th," Navin said. I assumed the camera was recording it all.

Silently, anticipating, we watched the large monitor. In a few minutes the first translations came into focus on the large monitor. It was done. Now it was my turn to turn these results into notation. I started to the task, my fingers flying over my keyboard.

"Well, that's it", Helza said.

Just as I was ready to enter my last set of instructions, Jenkins literally jumped across the table and grabbed Navin by the throat. I was too stunned to react.

Navin didn't have time to shout in suprise. He fell back with Dr Jenkins massive body covering him. Jenkin's huge hands worked. Then he stood and Navin lay quiet, his neck crushed to half it's normal size. His face was pulpy and his eyes had popped out and blood ran from empty sockets.

I stumbled out of my chair, fell against the wall and fainted.

When I awoke they had laid me prostrate on the table. Helza and Dr Jenkins sit on either side.

Helza stood up. "First, Daniel you must know that we will not kill you.

You have been blessed. We will see Yog-Soggoth, in timeless glory, in all his manifestations."

"What are you talking about," I stammered.

Dr Jenkins stood over me and drew his face close. He smelled like decaying wood. "You should thanks us, Daniel. When Cthulu is among us again, we will be royalty for what we do tonight. The Old Gods are generous. With out all your work...without that marvelous brain of yours, none of this would be possible."

"What do you mean?" I tried to rise up. Jenkins slapped a meaty paw on my chest and pushed me hard agains the table. I thought my ribs would break.

"Your pain will be meaningless soon, Daniel," Helza said.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I shouted. "What the hell are you talking about?

Why did you do that Navin?

Jenkins grabbed me by my arm pits, dragged me off the table and into my chair. His strength was astounding. I was like a doll in his grip. "Your friend was no longer needed," he said.

"Somebody will find his body," I said.

"No they won't," Jenkins said. "Anyway, it doesn't matter."

Helza stood by the large monitor. "Daniel. You only need to press a few keys now. It is inevitable. Can't you see that?"

There was only one explanation. "Your insane," I shouted.

"Think about it, Daniel. Think about your work, Helza said, "Let me help. How is it that something like the Necronimicon even exists? Surely you realize how ancient it is. How was it possible that such a complex underlying meaning could even exist in a book so old? Do you think you were working with the writings of mad men? You knew there was more... more than you even imagine."

Jenkins said, "He still doesn't believe us." Jenkins removed his jacket and shirt. His skin was sickly and green like a salamander. His chest showed no muscular structure at all. Instead slack wrinkles of sagging, diseased skin draped over a giant, beach ball belly. He was a physical freak.

I gagged in revulsion and turned my head away from the sickening sight.

Helza explained more. "The Necronomicon is a bible of sorts. But more than that. Before mankind crawled from the oceans onto the rock and stood upright, the earth was ruled by beings beyond our pitiful 5 senses. Always, man has had this spark of divinity in his ego. But it is only ego. When Yog-Soggoth opens the gate then the Mindless One will follow. Cthulu, always hunting, will pass through. The path is shown by Jupiter and Mars and the Old ones will take what was always theirs."

Jenkins had put on his shirt. He set next to me. "Since the Mad Arab first started the Necronomicon until today, there has never been an accurate translation. That's because the literal translation is nothing compared to the part that summons Yog-Soggoth. There is smore than just words there. We surmised, based on some of our brethren's sources, that it was complex code. And so complex that only men of special talent could decipher it."

"What do you mean, '..our brethern'," I asked.

Jenkins continued, "You will meet them soon. But you must finish."

Helza stood by the large monitor. "Daniel. You only need to press a few keys now. And when you feed these symbols into the system then it will start. There will be hundreds of thousands of wires and circuits each screaming the same thing. The very air will vibrate with prayers and incantations throughout the whole electromagnetic spectrum. Can you imagine it ...electric voices singing to the Old Ones. Come forth...Come forth"

Jenkins wrapped his hand over mine and squeezed. My fingers were first to break, then my palm folded flat and snapped like a chicken bone. "Oh, don't worry about your hand. You no longer need it. Something new will take its place. It is your mind we need." I fainted again.

When I woke, my hand throbbed. It was a piece of useless meat. "Your all crazy," I sputtered.

"Let me show you," Helza said. He extended his arm in front of my face. Under his sleeve crawled white, segmented tentacles. A glue like liquid dripped out. "We do not know what wanders await your transformation, Daniel. We are changing. We are made in god's image. And you will change too."

I looked at the monitor and mentally tried to interpret the symbols. A soul wrenching epiphany crashed in my brain. The grand theory that Navin and I had discussed became whole. Mankind was about to relegated to worm status and my work made it possible. It was my fault.

Half crazed, half witless with fright, I jumped from the chair away from Jenkins and Helza and fell through the door into the hallway. Since the labs at times held dangerous experiments, each door was reinforced and contained electronic and manual locking mechanisms inside and out. I slammed the door shut with my shoulder, tried to lock it, but my free hand was mangled. On the other side I heard a wet slap of skin.

I could not hold them in. I felt for the fire alarm on the opposite wall, but I could not see in the dark hall. Instead, I stumbled into the opposing lab.

I pushed home the dead bolt with my good hand. They would not get through it quickly. I found the lights. This lab was also abandoned except for a few terminals and some laser equipment long unused.

I searched for a weapon. Nothing. Then I saw the terminal. First I logged onto the server where my work was archived and tried to erase the disk. I did not have the credentials of an administrator. My mangled hand throbbed and I could not type quickly enough with one to ever break down the security walls. I looked for a phone. Nothing.

I consider breaking a glass beaker and cutting my wrists or slicing my carotid artery.

Then I remembered my virus vault left over from my thesis work. I had kept a private copy on the university servers. At least I could stop the horror about to emerge on this night.

I was so practiced at it, that with just one hand logging into my work space and releasing Wall Walker took little time. I could do that at least. Now if they were to somehow run my programs, the network would not be functional. Servers across campus would be shutting down now. Routers would send fragmented signals. Systems all along the east coast would fail. Without the input from thousands of idle machines, my program would not work.

I used a speech to text program to record this transcript. After Wall Walker has run its course the servers will come back on line. I hope this will be delivered to the campus wide email list.

Here they come. At least for tonight, mankind is safe.

#

I have worked to clear Dr. Freemont's name since a curious thing occurred about two years ago. Proof of his innocence has been difficult to uncover. At each step I have been thwarted by a secretive group so powerful that it can alter police reports, expunge court records, bribe attorneys and infect scientific journals at will.

In the official conclusions, Dr. Albred was cleared of any involvement in Dr. Freemont's schemes. Dr. Freemont himself disappeared. That opened another investigation. His wife testified that he had been having nightmares and was abusive and was glad he left. Later, Dr. Albred and Di were often seen together taking day trips to Insmouth and strangely swimming on drizzly days.

Their odd behavior spawned further investigations that were closed too quickly. Di Sterling left Arkham a few months later. I have not been able to find her. Dr. Albred took a position teaching in Boston. He refuses to discuss the incident. There is no record of any Dr Robert Jenkins. According to Dr. Abred, it was all a fabrication of Dr. Freemont's mind. It is now assumed Freemont committed suicide.

His files and notes were confiscated by the FBI forensics team and no amount of legal wrangling has been able to force them to share. All traces of Dr Freemonts work was erased from Miskatonics records. In short time, a well paid public relations team helped restore the university's good name. The cover up was so thorough, that soon it was if Dr. Freemont had never existed.

Records show Navin Sighn returned to India the very day of the incident. There are even airline tickets and witnesses who saw him at the airport. Attempts to reach him have proven futile.

One night I stopped for gas at a station on the edge of town and happened to look up at Taurus. There seemed to be a new star flickering in the tail. I dismissed it as a satellite or plane. But that night I had a dream.

I was standing on an island in a raging dark sea. The sky was filled with unrecognizable constellations. Near the tree line of the island, a writhing mass of humanity danced fantastically. From the many faces of the dancers, a pale light revealed the visage of Dr. Freemont.

In the middle of the island rose a hugh monolith silhouetted against a purple horizon. Pagan symbols and shapes adorned the tower. At the top of the tower was a throne and on the throne was a humanoid form as large as a mountain. It's head was like an octopus, with tentacles around a gaging mouth. The feeling of horror was so strong that I was sure my mind had shattered. I awoke in mid-scream.

I rushed to my computer to record the dream. As the screen saver scrolled away, a series of strange symbols popped up and shifted into patterns. My computer had been hacked and somebody was controlling it. I recognized some of the symbols

from my dream. That was on May 15th.

Two days later, n May 17th Jupiter and Mars aligned in the constellation Taurus.

That night, the Aurora Borealis was visible as far south as Nebraska. Several small earthquakes occurred in upstate New York and on the east coast high tide reached further than any time in the last 50 years.

And so began my quest for the truth.


End file.
